David "Chino" Rheem Wins First WPT Title

Published on December 20th, 2008 11:48 am EST

When David "Chino" Rheem was knocked out of the 2008 World Series of Poker main event in 7th place earlier this year, he was not pleased at all.

Most people would have been celebrating their $1.77 million dollar win, but Rheem was majorly pissed off after taking a bad beat at the hands of Peter Eastgate. Rheem was short-stacked and pushed with A-K offsuit - Eastgate called, holding A-Q offsuit. The flop brought a Queen, and Rheem was soon sent to the rail. In a post-tournament interview, Rheem was not a happy camper.

Anyways, fast forward a couple of months. Rheem successfully worked his way through an incredibly tough field to take down the 2008 "Doyle Brunson Classic" for $1.54 million dollars. With this victory, Rheem also claimed his first-ever WPT title. The tournament was filled with sharks, but Rheem used his experience at the World Series of Poker to his advantage and eventually came out on top.

Rheem and Justin Young were the last two players standing when the tournament got down to heads-up play. The chip lead swung back and forth in heads-up play, but eventually this hand sealed the deal for Rheem:

Rheem raised pre-flop and Young called. The flop came Q-8-3 rainbow. Young checked, Rheem bet and Young moved all-in. Rheem insta-called and turned up pocket Kings for an overpair, while Young showed Q-5 of clubs for top pair and a backdoor flush draw. The turn brought the nine of hearts, meaning that Rheem would only have to dodge a Queen or a Five to win the tournament.

The river was the harmless two of diamonds, and Rheem took down his first WPT title. Young earned $936k for finishing in second place.

With his victory, David "Chino" Rheem now has approximately $4 million dollars in lifetime tournament cashes.

Here is how the final table finished up:

"Chino" Rheem - 1.54 million
Justin Young - 937k
Evan McNiff - 540k
Steve Sung - 397k
Amnon Filippi - 288k
Hoyt Corkins - 216k

There was a huge hand that propelled Justin Young to the chiplead earlier on at the final table that needs to be mentioned.

Amnon Filippi moved all-in pre-flop. Steve Sung called, and Justin Young moved all-in. Sung called, producing a three-way all-in.

Filippi showed pocket nines, Sung showed pocket Kings and Young showed pocket Aces. The board came 7-4-4-3-J, and Young took down the monster pot. Filippi and Sung were both knocked out on this hand.

This was the final major poker tournament of 2008. Next up - the 2009 PCA, which gets underway on January 5th.


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Filed Under: Tournament Results